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#1 grimmblade Dec 01, 2009 4:07:29

Hey all! I’m planning on starting a new campaign soon (after Christmas) with about 4 players maybe more if I can get hold of more members. Now that as we all know is the easy part to get the people together once you know there interested and I know they have all had experience with 3.5 and I’m going to start them off in a 4E session for the first time and I’m fairly confident I can keep them interested and into the game despite there misgivings about the ‘combat focused simplifications’ as they call it. Here’s where I’m worried, I want to try something new and possibly rarely tried before! The setting from first level will be almost completely set in the Underdark from first level to last (where ever that may lie) but here’s the basic outline for what I’m planning for the games ahead. The players (depending on their chosen characters) are the remains of a large force sent to wipe out the races of the Underdark that had stumbled into a great Drow city which brought forth a great battle but in the final throws of the battle the forces of good are pushed into retreat and our heroes get split and lost charging headlong into random turns and twists of the many hushed caverns until they come to rest in a small pond area. It is here that the standard race characters run into any monstrous race players and perhaps a small skirmish ensues which will be broken up by a perusing (wounded) Drow party and forcing them to join sides to remove the threat that would certainly kill them divided.   From here they will proceed deeper into the dark tunnels of the Underdark believing there heading back to the entrance from where they came but will find themselves standing in a vast and great cavern surrounded by dark water with many large tunnels leading off into the seas of the Underdark, the players will find their way to a nearby settlement that long ago captured a ship that had found its way into the caverns and the town tries to enslave the group when/if they fail the group will steal the ship and set off into the Under-sea. Now to this point I’m confident enough but after they acquire the vessel is where ill have trouble, my goal is to turn them into ‘pirates’ in the Underdark praying on the darker races settlements, combating the sea going creatures of the Under-sea (aquatic purple worm anyone?)  But I want to know how I can make the ship into a ‘character’ itself having the players interact with the ship threw battle: Example: the undead skeleton cuts a free rope to the side as the player gets surrounded the rope is connected to heavy crates of supplies, the players need those supplies in order to survive so the player can grab at the rope and then ether be pulled up and thrown into the ships rigging/masting/etc or haul the crates to a stop. But I have no idea what sort of checks I would need to have the players make. I want to make the vessel as interactive as possible since it will be a major peace through the whole campaign... Any tips or ideas to help?